Written on Tuesday, December 02, 2008 10:13 PM
IM BACK!!!!haha
finally decided to come and finish the post
haha.
took 800 odd photos within the 13 days
and well,
as of 30/11/08,
IM MISSING BEIJING!!!!
and missing all the friends i made there,
missing all the people in the immersion group
ohhhh weelllll.
haha
so im here to tell you bout my trip(:
DAY ONE 18/11/08
reached the airport at 6.30a.m if im not wrong
our flight was at 8 plus
haha.
had a fright cause someone forgot her passport
but EVERYTHING WAS OK!
LYDIA!
we took Cathay Pacific to Hong Kong then transferred to Dragonair to fly to Beijing
the sconers as the Hong Kong International Airport
me, mae and lydia
sat with sand for both plane rides(:
hahah.
the food on DragonAir was DARN GOOD!
hahaha.
there was no inflight entertainment so all i had to look forward to was the FOOD!!!
after we touched down,
we could immediately feel the cold
hahahhaha.
donned our jackets,
then sat off for a long journey throught the HUGE airport
hahah.
when we went outside after collecting our baggage,
WE WERE SO EXCITED AT THE STEAM THAT WAS COMING OUT OF OUR MOUTHS!
(if that's what you call it)
hahahhaha.
SO FUN!(:
then we went for dinner
and went to our hotel- HOLIDAY INN CHANG AN WEST
it's awesome!
MY ROOMIE! MAE!
DAY TWO 19/11/08
woke up bright and early and had a scrumptious buffet breakfast
(I MISS THE OMELETE:/)
then we headed off for our first day at BEIJING NATIONAL DAY SCHOOL.
THE SCHOOL IS HUGE!
it has an international section, normal section for high school and junior high students as well as a private primary school!
not to mention a hostel that accomodates 3000 of the 5000 students enrolled in the school
and a teacher's condominium.
like WOAH.
we were first welcomed by the principal of the school who's actually quite a big shot
then we went on a tour of the school and all of us were practically running cause we couldnt stand the cold
hahahahhaha!(:
we finally found relief inside this meeting room which had HEATERS!
it was a GODSEND.
the sleepyheads(:
after lunch and napping in the meeting room,
we were finally introduced to the classes we were going to be attached to
i was attached to 高一（二班）along with kenneth mak.
each class consists of an average of 48 students
my class has 18 guys and 30 girls
and they're around 16-17 years old.
their school day starts at 8 to 5 plus with 9, 40mins periods and 10 min breaks between those periods.
slotted in between are a period for daily exercise where everyone takes part, a 15 min slot for eye exercise and an hour 45 min of lunch break
AWESOME RIGHT?
hahahha.
the end of the first day of school! sandra and lydia(:
the sun sets really early, at around 5 o'clock everyday
haha
ALL WRAPPED UP!(me and mae)
fernando and michael(:
went for dinner then headed to watch a martial arts show.
ahha
the LEGEND OF CHOON YI(i think)
haha.
DAY 3 20/11/08
it was a feel good day cause i was well prepared and wearing ALL OF MY THERMAL WEAR and i felt really snug and warm.
My throat didnt feel really good though.
cause of the air and the fact that mae and i binged on biscuits the night before.
Breakfast was the usual(:
when we reached the school, we kinda filmed “跑吧孩子”cause we were late.
hahahhaa.
they had a test in class and i was busy making friendship bracelets for the 30 girls
hahha.
they had awesome music lessons though!!!
they sing folk songs(:
another thing to note,
they have SUDDEN CHEM TESTS
SCARY!
some guy from the class next door came to do the experiment
and it kinda exploded
hahahahha!
(they do experiments in class)
apparently,
their student council organises basketball, volleyball etc matches for interclass competitions during their lunch break
it was my class against lydia and mae's hahahah
WE LOST! but it was still a good match(:
the kiddies from the private primary school(:
damn cute!
TABLE TENNIS!
LYDIA!
(the school looks like HDB blocks.haha)
me,mae, lydia
lydia and mae!
lydia and me!
we're posing for..........heh.
we all got bored waiting so lydia, joel and kelvyn played frisbee.
haha.
liz,chin and mae! (sorry the pic is a bit distorted. i hate to change the size of the piture)
sunset at the school(:
the international building.
DAY 4 21/11/08
felt a little sick cause of my throat. Haha.
Found out that there are two cute guys in my class though
haha
Did wushu in the morning.
I kept fumbling around while some people were really really serious and of course,
they were GOOD.
老师haha!
the school doing the morning exercise.
chin and sandra.
KENNETH MAK SLEEPING!
they had computer lessons!
then we had a soccer match with the international students at 3:50pm
most of the international students are korean(:
hahaha.
we lost.
hahahah.
but it's ok(:
went for dinner and then WE FINALLY WENT TO A SHOPPING STREET!
i forgot what it's called though>< height="215" alt="Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting" src="http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e326/janified/IMG_0415.jpg" width="254">
a really pretty church
DAY 5 22/11/08
we went to tian an men square early in the morning
haha.
it's really really big.
that's our tourguide mr zhang.
haha
sconers with lao shi!
lydia, mae, sand and i with the guards of tian an men square.
haha.
lydia and i(:
me and mae(:
the innocence of youth!
mike, lydia, wei and i
LYDIA!
a poor little bullied/skewered soft toy.
(i kinda forgot to upload the picture with mao's face on it)
next we went to the forbidden city, or what they call the 故宫.
this is the empress cixi's house
her room
bed chamber
after walking for about half an hour or so,
we kinda realised that once you've seen one building, you've seen all of em>< height="202" alt="Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting" src="http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e326/janified/IMG_0542.jpg" width="250">
after endless walking,
we left the forbidden city and continued on to the man-made hill directly in front of the forbidden city, as seen in the picture above.. you know the temple at the top?
THE SWEET POTATOES WERE HUGE.
we climbed up the man-made hill to the temple at the top and the view was great!
if only it had been a clear day..
that's the forbidden city in the background
the teachers(:
walked somemore and we reached the 北海公园
lydia in her turtle shell(:
mae and the pretty trees
haha.
mae and sand!
THE TREE AND I!
someone was using a hugeeee calligraphy brush and water to paint on the ground.
joseph, murphy,sand and mae.
just before lunch,
we took a trishaw ride! to the "old beijing" where all the hutongs are.
we had lunch in the hu tong and we were served by an old couple.
the food was not bad.
just a little too salty and oily for our singaporean tastebuds(:
in the afternoon,
most of us got really excited cause....
WE WERE GOING TO VISIT THE OLYMPIC STADIUM!
haha(:
it really really really is awesome
you have to go there yourself to feel it.
really.
the pengu building 7 star hotel.
me,sand,liz and chin.
look at the amount of people!
MAE!
ME!
LYDIA!
WE TOOK PICTURES IN THE OLYMPIC STADIUM TOILET!
that's the water cube in the background.
JUMPSHOT #1 (notice the two at the side)
JUMP SHOT #2 (look at the two people at the side again.haha!)
DAY 6 23/11/08
we went to the GREAT WALL.(:
I CLIMBED THE GREAT WALL.
look how steeeeeep it is.
randall,rachie pok,sam!
i was buying mao's little red book for fernie WHEN..
THE THREE OF THEM (mae,lydia, fern) TOLD ME TO TAKE A PHOTO
and ME, BEING GULLIBLE THOUGHT THEY WANTED A PHOTO OF THE RED BOOK SO I POSED.
then they LAUGHED ALOT.
and i was wondering what they were laughing about as i climbed back up to them
then i realised....
THERE WAS A JAPANESE DUDE POSING BEHIND ME!
>< height="224" alt="Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting" src="http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e326/janified/IMG_0728.jpg" width="277">
lydia(:
going up is SERIOUSLY EASIER than going down.
fern!
lydia blends in!
we went to starbucks after that.
THE HOT CHOCOLATE IS HEAVEN!
next we went to the summer palace which boasts the world's longest corridor about 780m in length.
that boat is fully made of marble and it cant move
hahahaha.
we ate dumplings till we almost died that night
hahhahaa.
DAY 7 24/11/08
Lydia made a speech in front of the whole school during morning assembly.
she was great
really really great.
there was another basketball match against my class and lydia and mae's class today
and we lost again!
hahaha.
me,chin and fernie.
the girls from my class who are in the basketball club!
my fave bball picture!
look at his broom!
took the english test today
haha.
it's a little hard to understand their grammar though.
haha.
went for lamb steamboat that night(:
next we headed for an acrobatics show.
it was not bad!
DAY 8 25/22/08
we had a 感恩会 that night together with the international and local students.
it was great!
we performed two songs: xi shui chang liu and home as well as our orientation dance
haha
we had great fun!
kept singing Beijing Huan Ying Ni(:
DAY 9 26/11/08
we had wushu again.
then after that we played badminton alongside the international students!
i played with sam,lydia and mae.
sam and lydia
deliah, liz and erm erm erm i think joseph?
us with the international kids(:
it was the last day we would be spending in the school with our friends:/
me and dan mei, my buddy.
one of the SIX cafeterias.
kenneth and his buddy.
kenneth and i with the class!
kenneth and his harem>< style="WIDTH: 265px; HEIGHT: 211px" height="214" alt="Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting" src="http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e326/janified/IMG_0829.jpg" width="270">
us with the teacher mr zhang(:
CUTE BOY!(not kenneth!)
hahaha. cuter than the japanese guy who took a photo with me!lol.
we gave out the friendship bands, tea biscuits and badges.
it really is more blessed to give than to recieve.
i hope they remember us for life!
the meal cards.
the necklace the class gave to me(:
us with the vice principal of the international department and zhou bing lao shi.
as a parting gift,
the school gave us a cert as well as a LIMITED EDITION, UNAVAILABLE BEIJING OLYMPICS 2008 VOLUNTEER SHIRT!
like WOOTS!
this was the AWESOME restaurant we ate at that night
hahah.
yeah yeah, the height diff>< style="WIDTH: 262px; HEIGHT: 209px" height="215" alt="Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting" src="http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e326/janified/IMG_0836.jpg" width="270">
liz and kelvyn.
kelvyn and i.
HE LOOKS LIKE MY DAD!(figuratively)
DAY 10 27/11/08
we went to Tian Jing to go SHOPPING!(at long last!)
we BARGAINED like crazy
hahaha.
later, we went to some food street for lunch and then we shopped somemore!
found a malt candy artist and lydia and mae bought a malt candy stick in the shape of a cat!
it even had a fish dangling from it!
we FINALLY had a taste of Peking duck that night.
hahah.
FASTEST CHOPSTICKS FIRST!
after that meal,
we went to the lao she tea house to watch a performance
drank too many cups of tea and couldnt sleep that night.
the sconers chilled out at mae's and my room that night(:
watched 23(i think?) and went to bed.
DAY 11 28/11/08
Mae left for Singapore that morning together with Ms Tan and Mr Sim.
sad:/
we went to visit the war museum.
lao shi and i
lydia, liz and i!
we found someone's grandfather
haha>.<
photos taken during the Jap occupation.
lydia!
me and her!
pissed off at what the soldiers did.
me and the chinese soldiers!
fernie and lyddie(:
mikey,lyddie and me!
there you go, our tiny little island that is NOT EVEN A RED DOT ON THE MAP!
hahaha.
but it's still home(:
THE TAI TAI'S CHIN AND LIZ!
headed on to the marco polo bridge where japanese invasion to beijing took place.
one of the 528 lions on the bridge.
and lift your eyes and see.
the gorund was really really uneven.
the dog that stayed in the middle of the road and wouldnt budge even when cars honked.
Fishermen!
the surface of the water was frozen.
that's how cold it was there!
wei,chin and liz.
next up was the millitary museum where lyddie and i got cool badges.
chairman mao.
someone quick enlist lydia in the army!
liz, sand, chin, wei
we were lining up according to the height of the rockets><
there was this really cool sculpture room!
chin and mike!
me and mike!
a little horsie!
MR LEE KUAN YEW!
imagine that!
he's so important that they put his statue in BEIJING'S MILITARY MUSEUM!
he's also in wax as Madame Tussards(sp?) though.
haha.
wei ru and murphy.
lydia fits in PERFECTLY!
Deng Xiao Ping.
Mao Ze Dong.
after all the museums was...... SHOPPING!!!!!
hahahahha.
then we went to one of the largest bookstores in the city where i got three cds for less that 25SGD.
WORTH IT!
WILBUR PAN! aka PAN SHUAI!(:
i shall post the photos of the two remaining days soon.
haha(: